


Chainmail Hearts and Red Roses

by HatchetNoseGelphie



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gorillaz - Freeform, High School AU, Mild Shirtlessness, Sadie Hawkins Dance, and she's oblivious af, but she's got the spirit, dash of assholery, earp sister bonding, lesbian abs, nicole is an idiot, spicy truth or dare, waves has a plan, wynonna's bad at metaphors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26931553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HatchetNoseGelphie/pseuds/HatchetNoseGelphie
Summary: Waverly has a plan to ask her best friend-slash-crush to the Sadie Hawkins dance taking place on Valentine's Day.If only Nicole would stop being so goddamn oblivious.-Also known as, Nicole Just Doesn't Get It.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 14
Kudos: 254





	Chainmail Hearts and Red Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Does anyone ever think about that scene in the Good Place where Chidi puts a bunch of peeps into a pot of chili and rants about nihilism?
> 
> I think about that scene a lot.

Waverly Earp had a plan, you see.

(She was a planner, after all.)

When Mrs. Lucado had put her in charge of planning the Valentine’s Day dance her junior year of high school, a mere month after she discovered she had a massive crush on her best friend – who knew? – it felt heavensent. For, if she was in charge of planning the dance, then she could make all sorts of executive decisions about it to make it the cutest first date she’d ever go on with Nicole Haught.

Hence, why she made it a Sadie Hawkins dance. Because when she asked Nicole to go with her, it would come totally out of left field and, god willing, Nicole’s face would rival her hair in redness. Something that, it must be said, was incredibly endearing.

Ever since coming to terms with her not-so-little crush, Waverly had begun noticing things about her best friend that she hadn’t realized were quite so adorable before. Like the way that Nicole smiled lopsidedly when she was in a playful mood. Or the way that she drummed her fingers on her knee to an upbeat song. Or the way that she was literally the most obtuse person on the entire planet.

Okay, maybe that last one was a bit more irritating than endearing. Waverly had been trying to drop subtle hints that she liked her, but nothing seemed to register in her brain.

So, surely, asking her to the Sadie Hawkins dance would get through to her. Right?

Step one: Make sure she’s actually interested in _going_ to the dance. She’d never been to a dance at their high school before besides once going to a Homecoming dance with Wynonna as friends, so Waverly had to find out whether she harbored a hatred for them or simply never had anyone to go with.

And since Waverly was a planner, she planned for step one to take place on a Thursday night, during one of the study sessions they had been doing for years.

Nicole was working on homework for her physics class while Waverly outlined notes from her history textbook. She was lying on her bed, Nicole was at her desk, and it was all-around a casual and, Waverly thought, perfect time to bring up the upcoming dance.

“Hey, Nicole?” she said, chin propped up on one of her hands.

“Hm?” the redhead hummed noncommittally around the pencil eraser she was chewing on. (Number 158 in the comprehensive list of utterly adorable things about Nicole Haught.)

Waverly bit her lower lip, trying to come off as innocent. She even wrinkled her nose in thought to boot. “Have you thought about the Sadie Hawkins dance much?”

That caught Nicole’s attention. She glanced up with a small frown. “No.”

“You’re not planning on asking anyone?”

“I wasn’t, no.”

“Not even Shae?” Nicole’s ex-girlfriend, and Waverly’s biggest insecurity when it came to her plans about escorting her best friend to the dance she’d put so much blood, sweat, and tears into perfecting.

Nicole chuckled and shook her head. “Shae and I have been over for _months_ , Waves. Why are you asking about the dance?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about it. Trying to figure out what flavor of punch I should choose, and it occurred to me that I didn’t know if you were planning on going.”

“There’s more than one flavor of punch?”

Waverly dropped her highlighter, mouth agape. “Leave my domain and never return,” she said seriously.

Nicole burst into laughter, dimples popping on either side of her face. “You’re something else, Waverly,” she teased through her peals of laughter.

And in spite of herself, that made Waverly’s heart flutter. She blushed and quickly looked away to hide it. Damn Nicole. Damn her and her ability to completely fluster Waverly with something as simple as a three-word taunt. Damn her and that stunning smile and those big brown eyes and her silky alabaster skin and the strong, defined muscles in her arms and – okay, she was getting carried away.

She just couldn’t help that Nicole _did_ that to her. That Nicole was _like that_. That she was simply the most incredible person on the face of the earth and Waverly _liked her_.

“So, you’re not planning on going?” she asked again after a few minutes in which they both had a chance to calm down.

“No.”

“Are you just against dances or something?”

Nicole glanced up again, eyes narrowed in thought. “No, I don’t think I am. I had fun at that one I went to with Wynonna. Why, did you want me to come?”

Abort, abort, too early in the plan to ask her. Far too early. Waverly wasn’t ready.

She sincerely hoped the panic didn’t show on her face, but judging by the concern on her best friend’s far-too-attractive features, she safely assumed that the stars were not on her side this time. “I, uh… I… You know…” she stammered out rather intelligibly.

“I wouldn’t mind coming as a friend.”

Oof.

Waverly deflated a little (again, she hoped, not noticeably) and forced a smile onto her face. “No, no. I’m just putting a lot of work into it, that’s all. I wanted you to at least come by beforehand and check it out,” she lied through her goddamn teeth, all semblance of courage having executed a prison break from that bleeding thing in her chest.

Nicole flashed her a dimpled smile. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

Damn her.

However much of a disaster step one was, it was completed. And now, she was onto step two: actually asking her. Now, don’t be fooled by the simplicity of step two – it had at least a dozen sub-steps. Each of which needed to be followed carefully in order to make it the perfect start of her hopefully lifelong relationship with Nicole Haught.

Unfortunately, most of the times where she was alone with Nicole were when they were studying together. Something that they did often because Waverly liked it, and Nicole sometimes needed help in her classes. As if that wasn’t the cutest fucking thing – oh, and whenever she was confused, she got this little crinkle in her brow and she’d tilt her head just so and – off-track, again, Waverly. Get it together.

Nicole was using a pen to outline her own notes this time like Waverly had shown her, and since there was no eraser for her to chew, she had the pen cap sticking out of her mouth.

“I was thinking of asking someone to the dance,” Waverly brought up after a comfortable silence in which she was trying to find the right words to say, all of the sub-steps of step two failing to offer her any help.

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.”

Nicole huffed out a small laugh under her breath, eyes still fixated on her notes. “Look, Waverly, if you’re wanting advice on how to ask out Champ, I’m afraid I’m gonna come up short.”

“ _What?_ ” Waverly nearly shrieked, quickly being hushed by everyone around them because, lo and behold, it’s not socially acceptable to shriek in a library.

Nicole looked at her, head tilted and that cute little crinkle in her brow. “You okay, Raptor-Waves?” she asked.

“I’m not going to ask out _Champ_ ,” Waverly spluttered as quietly as she could while still keeping the appropriate amount of venom in her voice, considering the subject. “I can’t believe you’d think that!”

“To be fair, you thought I wanted to ask out Shae.”

“I… Okay, yeah, that is fair. I don’t like Champ, though. I like someone else.”

“Oh?”

Waverly nodded, triumphant now that she had Nicole’s full, unwavering attention. “Yup. I was considering asking someone else out. Someone taller. And smarter. And much, much stronger. Someone who, you know… has it all.”

Now, Nicole looked very confused. “Perry?”

“Oh my god,” Waverly grumbled under her breath. “ _No,_ not Perry. I want someone who’s tall, smart, strong, _gorgeous_ , and all-around perfect,” she listed off, loud enough to be heard by her best friend but not enough to irritate everyone else in the library. Surely, with the way she was suggestively looking at Nicole, she couldn’t possibly think she wasn’t talking about –

“You’ll find them.”

Waverly slumped forward, head hitting the table between them.

Waverly had used her position as head of the party planning committee to institute a rose-giving tradition for the girls asking their dates out. Because what was more romantic than a rose, really? A red one, at that.

Whereas they sold fake red roses from a booth run by the student council, Waverly had gone out of her way to get a real one from the store, because she’d have nothing but the best for _her_ gorgeous redheaded love.

She wasn’t going to let her past failures and the obtuseness of Nicole bring her down. No, she was determined. Maybe it was only two weeks before the dance, but she was determined to go with Nicole. She wouldn’t take anyone else. She had a _plan_ , goddammit, and a plan was not something to be taken lightly. Especially not one of her plans.

The rose she had bought was tucked away neatly in her backpack. She and Nicole were _not_ studying for once, but rather, were eating lunch at one of the tables outside the cafeteria.

“Oh! I forgot to show you what I did yesterday,” Nicole exclaimed before Waverly had a chance to work up the courage to present the rose.

She turned around to fiddle with her backpack, mumbling under her breath about the mess of papers inside and how truly disorganized she was when it came to her backpack. (For those curious, number 440 in the comprehensive list of utterly adorable things about Nicole Haught.) Waverly waited patiently as she checked every pocket and zipper, finally finding what she was looking for after an inordinate amount of time searching.

“Look!” she proudly presented the thing.

It was an intricate heart outline made from chainmail. It was a hobby of Nicole’s, and something that Waverly loved watching her do. The look of complete concentration on her face was number 81 on the list. Waverly pulled her lower lip in between her teeth as she looked at the beautifully-made heart.

“This is amazing, Nicole,” she breathed.

“It’s for you.”

“What?”

Nicole beamed, nudging the heart closer to her. “I _said_ , it’s for you. For being all-around amazing. I don’t know. When I made it, I just thought of you and I figured you might want – wait, what’s wrong? Do you not like it?”

The change in tone being on account of the tears that had appeared in Waverly’s eyes.

“You’re an asshole,” she managed, her voice scratchy from the tears. She wiped furiously at her face and shook her head. “I love it, Nicole.”

Nicole cocked her head to the side, an uncertain smile on her face. “I’m getting mixed signals. Do you love it, or am I an asshole?”

“ _Yes,_ ” Waverly sighed, digging the palms of her hands into her eyes.

“O...kay… I’ll pretend that makes sense.”

Waverly took the heart and ever-so-delicately tucked it into the side pocket of her own bag, promising herself she’d hang it up on her wall later that day. She was about to put her bag back underneath the table when she remembered the rose and – well, it was now or never. Nicole had possibly just flirted with her, after all.

She opened the main compartment and withdrew the rose, holding it to herself for a few seconds before extending it towards Nicole, her face burning and turned decidedly _away_ from her crush (something that violated three out of her twelve sub-steps).

Nicole hesitated before taking the rose. Waverly chanced a look up at her and noticed the same confused look on her face. “Did you get this for me, Waves?” Nicole asked slowly.

She nodded, thinking _finally_.

“Oh.” Nicole looked at the rose, frowned, and pushed it back towards her. “That’s sweet of you, but I wasn’t planning on asking anyone, like I said, so I don’t need one of these. You should use it to ask someone out.”

Waverly gaped, completely and utterly dumbfounded.

How was it possible?

How was it possible that someone as smart and sexy as Nicole could flirt shamelessly one moment, and then be completely oblivious to when she was flirted with the next? Waverly had _given her a rose_. That _meant_ something. And yet, Nicole couldn’t seem to land on the right meaning.

What an idiot.

(Waverly’s idiot, unfortunately.)

Okay, so her first two attempts at step two were unsuccessful, but that was okay. Waverly wasn’t about to let her hopes be dashed even though there was only a week left until the Sadie Hawkins dance. She was determined to get her dance proposal through Nicole’s thick head, just once. Even if Nicole said no, that was okay. Well, it would crush her, but it would be okay, because at least she’d have known Waverly liked her, and even if they didn’t end up having the picture-perfect romance that Waverly had been imagining, she knew it would never happen if she didn’t try. Something that made perfect sense in theory.

So, she swore upon her father’s grave, she’d _try_.

And if she had to be painfully blunt and obvious and not at all as romantic as she’d been wanting to be, well, that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Waverly had constructed the perfect way to really get it across to Nicole that she liked her that was still romantic, in a way. She just needed Wynonna’s help. Which wasn’t an issue because Wynonna was always down for executing a master plan.

Nicole, Wynonna, Waverly, Chrissy Nedley, Stephanie Jones, Samantha Baker, and Megan Halshford were all gathered around the Earps’ living room, playing something that Wynonna had branded as Spicy Truth or Dare, trademark pending.

“Truth,” Samantha said upon being asked.

“Tell us about your first time,” Megan demanded with a twinkle in her eye.

Face blushing profusely, Samantha launched into a rather explicit story that no one but Megan really had any vested interest in. Needless to say, the night wasn’t exactly going how Waverly had planned. Mostly because she needed it to be Wynonna’s turn to ask, and no one seemed to want to ask Wynonna anything. Or Nicole. Because Nicole would probably ask Wynonna.

Until a miracle occurred.

“Nicole, you haven’t been chosen yet, have you? Truth or dare,” Chrissy said.

Nicole took a slow sip of her beer before smirking at the blonde. “Dare.”

Chrissy leaned forward on her elbows conspiratorially. “You know, I’m not gay, but I see you working out at the gym all the time. I dare you to take off your shirt for the rest of the game.”

“Just my shirt?”

Chrissy blushed and faltered. “U-uh, unless you want to take off more?”

Nicole laughed and shook her head, “I’m just teasing.” She made quick work of removing her shirt, putting her glorious abs on full display.

As if Waverly needed an even bigger gay problem than she already had.

She got absolutely lost in the curves that were presented to her, drinking in milky skin and the lacy pink bra that was showing just enough to make her mouth water. Those gentle shoulders, that soft skin, the way her necklace arched down towards that sweaty spot between her breasts. Waverly never thought she’d be jealous of a necklace before.

She was so enraptured with Nicole – she didn’t even think about the fact that she was outright staring, (in fact, maybe it would actually knock some sense into that head of hers) – that she didn’t notice when Nicole dared Wynonna to demonstrate her sex sounds for the whole group.

“Waverly.”

She glanced up, noticing Wynonna’s smirk as she looked upon her. The elder Earp winked ever-so-faintly, assuring Waverly that she remembered their plan. “Dare,” Waverly said.

Wynonna grinned, “I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in this room.”

“Gross,” Stephanie complained.

But, well, it was part of the plan.

“Stephanie, move over please?” Waverly said, scooching behind the spot that Stephanie made. “And Megan, excuse me.” Another scooch. “Nicole?”

“Don’t worry, Waves, I’ll get out of your way, too,” Nicole laughed, _completely missing the goddamn point of it all_ and moving backwards so Waverly would squeeze past her, too.

Waverly shared an alarmed, befuddled look with Wynonna, before losing all nerve and scooching past Nicole, too. She faced Chrissy, figuring it was better to kiss Chrissy than anyone else in the group that wasn’t Nicole.

She planted a small, very chaste kiss on Chrissy’s lips before slinking back to her spot, her face burning like she was stoking a very, very hot fire.

“She really doesn’t get it, does she?” Wynonna asked, laughing, after everyone had gone home in the morning. “I love Red, but she can be a bit thick sometimes.”

Well, Waverly thought, she could certainly say _that_ again. She had dropped so many hints at this point – how much more obvious did she have to be? Did she have to straddle Nicole’s hips and profess her love for her in verse?

Not that she’d be necessarily opposed to doing that, but it wasn’t the story she wanted to tell their future kids. Because she was fairly certain that she was never going to find anyone more perfect than Nicole, so might as well commit everything to the love of her life, right? Maybe she was getting ahead of herself, but Nicole just had that effect on her.

It was one goddamn day before the Sadie Hawkins dance, and Waverly was _miserable_ because she still hadn’t been able to get Nicole to agree to come with her. Not because Nicole didn’t want to, because Waverly was about 95% certain she did. _Fuck it,_ she thought. She was going to march over to Nicole’s place, and she was going to throw romantic gestures and sweet, coy talks to the wind – because they obviously went over Nicole’s head – and make sure she went with her crush to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

She only had to wait outside Nicole’s mom’s apartment for about half a minute before the door opened and Nicole stood in the entryway, looking more than a little confused. “Waves. What, uh, what are you doing here?”

Waverly lost a fraction of the nerve she had arrived with and anxiously gripped her right arm with her left hand. “Hey,” she said. “Can I come in?”

“Of course, yeah,” Nicole smiled, stepping aside and letting her in before closing the door behind her.

She had only seen Nicole’s apartment a handful of times, usually when she was coming to pick her up, and even then it was only a glance before Nicole slipped out. The only time she had seen Nicole’s mom, the woman was lounging on the couch, wearing nothing but her socks, with a cigarette in her hand and smoke billowing out from her lips. Nicole didn’t like to talk about her home life, though, so no matter how much her heart bled, Waverly didn’t ask.

“Is your mom here?” Waverly asked with just a touch of horror, fearing her brave confession getting interrupted by the half-naked druggie. Because she did plan to confess, you know. She just had to go forth and… say that she liked Nicole.

“No. She, um, she went to the grocery store.”

“Oh,” Waverly breathed out in relief. She looked around the apartment, noticing how spotless everything was. It was a little out of place, since whenever she’d gotten a glance in before, it was always a trainwreck. Nicole was usually the one that was clean and organized (except when it came to her backpack). “Wait, when?”

Nicole cleared her throat and looked away. “Uh. Sunday.”

“Today’s Friday.”

“Yeah,” Nicole chuckled dryly. She coughed and then smiled, placing a hand on Waverly’s arm. “Are you okay? I mean, what brings you to my humble abode?” she joked.

Waverly licked her lips anxiously, noticing how suddenly dry her mouth was. She just had to do it. Just say it. _I like you. I want to date you. I want to be your girlfriend. I want you._ It wasn’t as easy as she was expecting. “I’m okay,” is what she managed to say instead.

“Okay,” Nicole drawled out the word, another thing she tended to do when confused. (Number 18 on the list of adorable things about her.)

“I, uh… I wanted to know if you might, if you were interested, you know, be possibly interested in going to the dance. The, um. The Sadie Hawkins dance. With me. If you wanted to, of course, I’m not going to make you go if you don’t want to. I don’t know, does that seem like something that might sort of interest you?”

_Smooth. You should be on a talk show, you inarticulate baboon._

There was a solid minute when Nicole seemed to be processing the roundabout question. It wasn’t what Waverly had meant to say – she had meant to confess – but she figured it was close enough, Nicole surely ought to know what she meant.

Nicole’s face softened and she frowned slightly. “Oh, Waves, I’m so sorry. You didn’t get to ask who you wanted to?”

Waverly clenched her jaw, trying to keep from yelling at Nicole for being so dumb. “No,” she said through her gritted teeth. _I am. Don’t you see? I am asking who I want. She just doesn’t get it._ “Not yet.”

“I’m sorry. Of course, I’ll go with you. You know, as friends.”

Waverly sighed heavily and nodded. She remembered after a moment to act happy, and forced a smile onto her face. “Awesome,” she said.

“I’ve mapped out the previous encounters, because I’m not ready to give up. I think I’ve narrowed my past failures down to two main causes.”

“Okay,” Wynonna nodded before bringing a spoonful of ice cream to her lips.

Waverly turned towards the whiteboard and pointed to the picture of Nicole which had been taped onto it. “Obviously, number one is Nicole’s obliviousness. I mean, she just doesn’t get it. I feel I’ve made it pretty clear without outright telling her I’m interested in her.”

“If you mean totally gone-zo in love with her, then yeah.”

She shot her sister an unamused look, pointing at the picture of herself, taped right next to the one of Nicole (only partially because she liked how they looked next to each other). “The second reason, I admit, is my own cowardice. I think I’m wanting her to come to the conclusion on her own so I don’t have to actually say the words, because I’m scared of how she’ll react if I come right out and tell her she’s the most gorgeous thing on two legs and I’m so into her.”

Wynonna fake-gagged. “Gross,” she said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re allergic to romance and everything gooey, but this is important to me.”

“Of course, kid. I’m just teasing you. How are you going to overcome your obstacles?”

Waverly smiled gratefully at her sister. “Obviously, I can’t control Nicole. I can’t make her suddenly understand all of my subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle hints. However, I _can_ control my own fear.”

“How are you going to do that?” Wynonna asked around another spoonful of ice cream.

“I have no idea.”

Wynonna snorted, then dropped her spoon and began frantically batting at her nose. “I got ice cream up my nose!” she cried. “Aw, fuck!”

“Wynonna, _focus._ ”

The elder Earp grabbed the nearest tissue box and blew her nose into a tissue, grumbling to herself as it didn’t work. “You know what, kid?” she asked tiredly. “Sometimes, you go to Hot Topic and you really want a specific Gorillaz shirt, but it’s thirty dollars, and you can’t afford it.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“I’m getting there. You can’t change the price of the shirt, so what you gotta do is grab, like, five shirts, go into a changing room, and slip the Gorillaz shirt on underneath the shirt you’re wearing. You walk out, put the other four shirts back, and leave the store with the Gorillaz shirt.”

Waverly narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Is this based on a real example? Because it sounds oddly specific.”

Wynonna paused, crossing her arms over the Gorillaz shirt she was currently wearing. “No,” she lied, terribly. “Anyway, the _point_ is, stealing can be scary, even if you’ve stolen a shit ton of stuff before, because you never know what’s going to happen this time. But if you don’t try, you’re never going to get your shirt. And if you do try, you’ll either get caught, possibly sent to jail, or… Or, you get the thing that you wanted.”

“I think I know what you mean. That was a terrible metaphor, but I think I get it.”

Wynonna grinned and leaned back. “Go get your shirt, Waverly.”

“So, this is what you’ve been working on all these weeks? I gotta admit, Waves, this is pretty awesome,” Nicole said as she walked around the dimly lit gymnasium.

Because neither of them had cancelled their plans to tour the dance before it had actually started.

Nicole was dressed in a minimalistic, yet extremely flattering lavender dress that left one of her shoulders completely bare, fully displaying creamy, soft skin. She was wearing long, dangly earrings, too, and while Waverly wasn’t sure where she got any of it, she was _very_ appreciative of how gorgeous it looked on her. Lavender was definitely her color.

“Yeah,” Waverly replied nervously, her hands twisted together in front of her.

Nicole turned towards her with a smirk. “And may I just say, fake date, that _you_ are a vision,” she teased.

And even though it was a tease, Waverly blushed and looked away. “Oh, please.”

Chuckling, Nicole continued walking through the gymnasium, lightly trailing her fingers over the pink ribbons on the wall. “Pink has never really been my color, but I’ll admit, it looks great in here.”

“Well… It _is_ Valentine’s Day, after all.”

“Yes, I suppose it is, isn’t it?”

What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than with the woman you were so entirely enraptured with who couldn’t seem to get it through her thick skull that you might possibly be in love with her?

Nicholas Sparks could never.

Waverly took a deep breath to brace herself. “Nicole, we have to talk.”

That familiar eyebrow crinkle appeared on Nicole’s face again. “Okay, sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, and I’ve been agonizing about it for weeks. And… I think, if I don’t tell you now, then I’m never going to tell you, and if I never tell you, then I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life.”

“Well, I’m not sure that’s entirely true, Waves. You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with,” Nicole reassured her, a gentle smile on her face. Ever the protective optimist. (Number 104 in the list of adorable things about her.)

Waverly took Nicole’s hands and stroked the soft skin there with her thumbs. “I know that it seems like I’m being overdramatic, but I _would_ be miserable. So, I think I need to come right out and say it, because you’re the shirt, and your price isn’t going to change.”

Nicole tilted her head in confusion. “You’ve lost me.”

“You’re the shirt, so even though it might end terribly, and even though I might get hurt, I’ve gotta try.”

Nicole furrowed her brows in concern and took one hand away from the brunette’s. She placed the back of her hand tentatively against Waverly’s forehead, a small frown on her face. “Are you feeling okay, Waverly? You know, if you’re sick, we don’t have to be here. We could go to your place, put on a shitty movie that makes us forget about being dateless on Valentine’s Day, maybe microwave some popcorn, and cuddle up with an unholy number of blankets. You don’t have to stress yourself if you’re not – “

Waverly surged forward, effectively silencing her with her lips.

It was a chaste kiss, both of them too terrified to explore. Nicole was noticeably shocked at first, but after a moment, she responded, ever-so-gently moving her soft, full lips against Waverly’s.

When Waverly finally pulled back, her lower lip drawn between her teeth anxiously, it took almost a full minute for Nicole to notice and open her eyes again. Her pupils were wide as she tenderly touched a finger to her lips.

“Wh-why would you do that?” Nicole managed, her voice strained.

Waverly sighed and rubbed at her right temple, because of _course_ Nicole still wouldn’t get it. But she had already put the Gorillaz shirt underneath her outer one, so she had to commit or else she’d surely get caught.

Oh, damn Wynonna and her horrendous, illegal metaphors.

“Because, you idiot, I like you.”

“You… what?”

“I like you. As more than a friend,” Waverly said, completely deadpan and not at all how you should tell your crush you like her. “I asked you to the dance as _more than a friend_. I still want to go to the dance with you…” she trailed off, gesturing with her hands for Nicole to finish the sentence, god willing.

And in an instant, it was like something finally clicked in Nicole’s head. “As… more than a friend?” she asked tentatively.

“ _Yes_ ,” Waverly exasperated.

Nicole swallowed hard, the corners of her lips quirking in a hesitant smile. “That’s… I-I mean… Dope.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow, unimpressed and struggling to fight her own smile.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole said, squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t know why I said that. I _meant_ that… I like you too, Waverly. I, like… I _really_ like you. As, you know, more than a friend. I have for years.”

“I know.”

Nicole’s eyes snapped open and her jaw dropped. “You _know?_ ”

“I’ve known.”

“You’ve _known?_ ”

Waverly grinned at the complete and utter panic on Nicole’s face. “Yes, dummy. And I like you too, remember?”

“I… right. Yeah. I forgot that,” Nicole breathed, a smile playing at her lips again. “Does this mean you want to – “

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

“Right-o,” Nicole agreed, and then brought their lips back together.

Maybe it wasn’t the picture-perfect first kiss story she’d been imagining, where they swayed to a slow song in the middle of the dance and it was like no one in the world existed outside of them, but it was still her and Nicole, and she figured that that was perfect enough for her.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's be real, we're all Chidi.
> 
> Catch me on tumblr at ive-got-a-taser (dot) tumblr (dot) com.


End file.
